Support Mission Based Trauma Recovery for Vets

Despite the tens of billions of dollars being spent on Veteran health care, many Veterans continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In a 2011 editorial in the Journal of the America Medical Association, military medical researcher, Charles Hoge M.D., summed up the efficacy of combat PTSD care, “With only 50% of Veterans seeking care and a 40% recovery rate, current strategies will effectively reach no more and 20% of all veterans needing PTSD care.”

Maj. Gary Wynn, a PTSD research psychiatrist at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, has called for a mandate to focus on keeping veterans in treatment by better matching therapies to patient preference.

The use of animal assisted therapy has been increasingly utilized for a variety of pain and mental health issues. Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), especially with dogs, may be well-suited to attract and retain treatment-resistant PTSD patients and enhance outcomes from conventional treatment programs. A survey of pet ownership among military found that, despite the burden of frequent relocation and occasional quarantine periods, the U.S. military community is committed to the human-animal bond.  Military families share their homes with more than 400,000 pets. A survey of 896 military families found that 98% considered their pets to be members of their family.

In 2011, Rick Yount created WCC to support and expand our unique AAT model to support the treatment of service members with traumatic combat injuries at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE). Hundreds of NICoE patients volunteer for WCC’s Mission Based Trauma Recovery Program (MBTR), a meaningful and challenging mission of training a young service dog for a fellow Veteran in-need.

Disturbed trust is commonly encountered in cases of PTSD and, in a recent study, soldiers cited a general lack of trust in mental health professionals as their key reason for treatment drop-out.⁵  WCC’s program takes therapeutic advantage of the fact that even the most severely wounded Veteran can still form social bonds with dogs. WCC’s Labradors and Golden Retrievers are specially selected for a calm, sociable temperament that will make them reliable and valuable mobility service.

Anecdotal testimonies of MBTR’s effects on PTSD symptom reduction from patients, family members and caregivers received additional support from a recent five-year retroactive review (2012-2015) of MBTR at the Bethesda national military medical center. Analysis of MBTR’s trainer-reported evaluations was presented at a meeting at the National Institute of Health found that participants’ emotional, cognitive, and social competencies improved significantly between their first to their last session.

In 2014, The Uniformed Services University of Health Science Consortium for Health and Military Performance was awarded funding by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command to conduct a randomized, (waitlist) controlled pilot study to investigate the acceptability, feasibility, and outcomes (psychological and behavioral) of participation in six one-hour MBTR sessions. Research participants were recruited from the DoD Outpatient Clinic (Psychiatry and Behavioral Health).
Over a period of three years, 29 volunteers completed this pilot study: 12 in the MBTR group and 17 in the Waitlist group.

Despite the burden of completing 2-3 hours of research requirements, program retention for MBTR was very high. Eleven of 12 SDTP participants completed all six one-hour training sessions. One person had to drop out due to a sudden health crisis.

MBTR’s stress-coping effects were reflected in cardiac measures taken during research sessions. These showed improvement in participants’ heart rate variability (HRV)—the heart’s ability to respond to and recover from stressful experiences. This key nervous system function has been shown to be dysregulated by PTSD. Participants’ HRV measures showed significant improvement within 10 minutes and at the end of the first and last MBTR sessions.  Attendance and retention in WCC’s program offer encouraging support for the acceptability of the MBTR model and the feasibility of offering it as adjunctive therapy in a clinic facility. Data from PTSD symptom scores are encouraging and currently being prepared for publication in late 2019 or early 2020.

WCC’s MBTR program is also the focus of a larger, longer, more in-depth study being conducted in Bethesda and at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE). This study, also Congressionally funded, will look at the biopsychosocial effects 12 hours of MBTR on 220 participants with follow up measures at three months for possible long-term effects.

Over the last few years, four other studies investigated the impact of training service dogs on symptoms of combat-related PTSD. These studies focused on four different not-for-profit service dog organizations across the country that operate under individual program philosophies and practices. Despite the differences in the four programs and the protocols used to investigate them, all showed a reduction in PTSD symptoms.

These are indeed exciting, long-overdue times for research into the therapeutic potential of service dog training as a safe, effective, non-pharmaceutical intervention for the reduction of PTSD. Stay tuned!

Many people ask about the unique names of WCC's Service Dogs in Training--the special dogs who work with Veterans as part of our Mission Based Trauma Recovery Program. If you follow each of WCC’s namesake announcements, you know that each one has its own unique and remarkable story. All of us here on the WCC team are continually moved to learn about each Veteran and the way his or her family and friends recount the impact they have had on those they knew, as well as our great country.

This month, we’re sharing one of those remarkable stories: Navy Chief Petty Officer David Michael Collins, Ret. You likely know his namesake as service dog in training “Collins”; he was named in memory of Dave, who lost his life to his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and yet to be diagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 2014.

Over Thanksgiving, Dave’s wife, Jennifer, and their two children, Grace, 14, and Sam, 11, had the opportunity to meet Collins. In fact, WCC puppy parent and volunteer extraordinaire Patrick Siemon and Collins drove to Pennsylvania to meet the family while they were in town for the holiday.

“Meeting Collins was so much fun because we’ve seen pictures and we’re such a dog family, so to be able to hug on him, play with him and give him kisses was fabulous,” said Jennifer. “And meeting Patrick was just as incredible because he’s doing all the hard work to turn this dog into someone who’s going to carry on my husband’s legacy — he’s just a very special human being.”

We agree — special indeed. Although Patrick insists the pleasure was all his.

“CPO Collins is a truly amazing hero who has done so much for our country,” said Patrick. “There were so many special moments during Collins’ meeting with his namesake’s family and being able to show CPO Collins’ son Sam how to train Collins was truly remarkable. I hope that Collins brings CPO Collins’ family, friends and fellow Warriors much comfort through his work helping Veterans and sharing his story,” Patrick shared.

In addition to Jennifer, Grace and Sam, their entire family and even Jennifer’s best friend from childhood and her children all came for the coveted Collins meet ‘n greet.

“I know I can speak for the kids when I say that, when you lose your husband or your dad like that, any physical embodiment of him is joyful,” said Jennifer. “And so, Collins might be furry and four-legged, but he still carries Dave’s spirit in him, so for us to be part of his story is really a special honor for us.”

Jennifer says dogs have always played a huge role in Dave’s life. In fact, her letter to WCC accepting the WCC namesake nomination recounts the role a very special dog named Brian played in getting Dave home from work in Afghanistan.

Alyssa,
I truly cannot thank you and your supporters enough for this honor! In addition to being an appropriate legacy for a man who lost his battle with TBI/PTS because the treatment and the answers just weren’t there for us, I want to tell you a story of why a dog is important. 

Dave was retired and working as a contractor. In the summer of 2013, he was sent to Afghanistan, not technically his job but they needed him, for a 4-month rotation. He really, really didn’t want to go and these were some of the signs of his struggle. While there, we were able to FaceTime with him. Our dog Murphy had died about a year earlier, and Dave had started telling us about this stray dog there that reminded him of Murphy. It got to the point where he’d FaceTime with us to show us the dog, named Brian. Brian even slept in Dave’s room on his bed — definitely not something that Dave would typically allow.

Toward the end of the trip, Dave made plans for an organization called Nowzad to get Brian home to us. Dave returned in late September, and Brian arrived in early November. When Dave returned home, that is when I really noticed something was wrong. His spiral downward was quick and by March, he was dead, having found no doctor or program or facility that could provide him with any relief.

Alyssa, I truly believe that Brian got Dave home to us. Brian was a connection to us, a bit of humanity in an otherwise difficult place. I know Dave struggled for far longer than those last intense few months and I’m sure the trip to Afghanistan made things worse. We could have lost him to those demons over there. But a dog loved him, kept him company, reminded him of home and eventually got him home safely to our love.

So, a service dog for another veteran in need is so much more appropriate than you know.

Thank you again for giving us this opportunity and for honoring Dave in this manner.

Sincerely,
Jennifer

Of course, now that the family has met Collins, Jennifer said Sam has asked multiple times whether they can “adopt him.” Jennifer explained that Collins is training for a much more important purpose but did share that if he were to choose a different career path, they’d love to be at the top of the list for his placement.

Links:

• Namesake Announcement for WCC's Collins